


Chapter Forty-Four: Wasted Wings

by CavalierConvoy



Series: MTMTE Series One: Shoot Straight with a Crooked Gun [45]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers: Beast Machines, Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Entanglement, Escape, Gen, Haunting, Other, Possession, Quantum Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 02:44:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3793717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three hundred years from now, Silverbolt leads a rescue team to locate their missing comrade on the <i>Lost Light</i>, but Braddore is hesitant to agree, quick to remind them of what had transpired with Starscream's possession over Skyfire during the Beast Wars. Skyfire could not agree more. </p><p>Below, in Iacon Proper, Pantera's lack of response regarding Depth Charge's death leaves Rattrap worried that the quantum wave they were caught up in did more damage to her than instill double memories.</p><p>Meanwhile, two decacycles prior to meeting up with the <i>Spoils,</i> the Transmetal Maximals are able to break the planet's gravity ... but now doubt had settled in: did they just leave Cybertron after all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Forty-Four: Wasted Wings

but you keep your world confined  
to colours blue and grey  
when someone sheds a light  
you look the other way

if you would only break your seal  
and start to trust in you  
your wasted wings could heal  
and carry you anew  
— ["Wasted Wings"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu2VJxl2qNU) by Rotersand, from _Waiting To Be Born_  
  


Iacon Harbour  
Cybertron  
Three Hundred Stels from now

The three aerial Maximals — two technorganic, one former Vehicon — maintained a cover under a power pylon, ascertaining scenario before them. The Vehicon aerial fleet was locked in battle with the lone, undead Autobot perched atop the bow of the ship, the city-night blue mech shrugged off the laser cover, and returned fire with extreme prejudice.

"I'se not likin' this," Braddore grumbled. "Iffin Skyfire's inside the ship...."

"Stormrave," Silverbolt regarded the white and red jet, "would you be able to get us to the hull breech quickly, without being noticed?"

"Like where you're going there, 'Bolt," Stormrave nodded.

"Ye'se not listenin'," Braddore interrupted. "Think, Silverbolt: that 'bot's under some sorta control. I'se not thinkin' we're dealing with Skyfire anymore."

"What're you talking about?" Stormrave demanded.

Silverbolt caught Braddore's meaning, and narrowed his optics. "Starscream."

"He was able to control those under the Transmetal Two driver, durin' the Beast Wars," Braddore explained to the former Vehicon. "What's sayin' that's not the case here?"

"According to the mission logs, Skyfire had the ability prior to Starscream's possession," Silverbolt brooded over the facts. "As I do understand the need to exercise caution, if there's a chance that Skyfire, not Starscream, is in control — "

"We can't afford to lose any more Maximals, possessed or otherwise," Stormrave pointed out. "Okay, boys, grab on — we'll get in and sort things out inside."

"I'se thinkin' we stay put, wait for 'Tera," Braddore suggested.

Silverbolt spread out his wings, ruffled the the feathers, before mantling them again. "Stormrave is correct; if it is indeed Skyfire holding off the Vehicons, we need to come to his aid."

"Ye's bein' right optimistic," Braddore grumbled, "And iffin this is Starscream's trap, we'se got four less Maximals instead of one." 

"I'm thinking 'Bolt's made the call: we rescue Skyfire." Stormrave gathered both avian Maximals, one under each arm, and darted for the hull breech, staying under the fire fight.

Once optics calibrated to the darkness and registered the dead surrounding them, Braddore fought Stormrave's grasp. "What the frag?" he snarled. "What the _FRAG_?!" 

<<Guys, get cover!>> Skyfire broadcast through the ship's PA. <<I've got to get the sentry back in place!>>

Stormrave dragged the others away from the breech, just as a headless giant — Decepticon — lumbered forward to block entry.

<<Long story short: quantum generator, wreaking havoc, tried to stop it, got partially assimilated, now trying to keep Megatron from finding it. More later when I'm not freaking out. Good news is the ship's shielded, so need to use 'bot modes? Feel free.>>

"Bad news is the mass graveyard!" Braddore squawked, taking the initiative to transform. 

Silverbolt followed suit, eyeing the headless Decepticon warily. "Skyfire, this is macabre...."

<<I know, but it was the only way I could defend the place in a pinch,>> Skyfire continued. <<Right now I can only access those with intact spark chambers. Which sucks, because most of the heavies on board were taken out with a single blast to their sparks. And if you want to talk macabre, don't get me started about the ones missing their t-cogs.>>

"Where ye at?" Braddore demanded, keeping an optic on Stormrave, who had taken to explore the nearby corridor. 

<<Engine room, bottom level. Wouldn't recommend coming down here until I can sort out how to quarantine the field; the generator is affecting me, likely 'Tera, possibly Rattrap. I'd rather not risk anyone else. If I get quiet, I'm concentrating on other matters, like keeping the Vehicons distracted; got about five headspaces going right now.>>

"Anything we can do, Skyfire?" Silverbolt questioned.

<<Get to the bridge; now that I have control of the engines and maintaining power to systems, we may be able to access the ship's logs. We need to figure out why this ship is here in the first place and how to completely shut down the engines.>>

"And you?" Stormrave asked. "What about you? Are you okay?"

There was a pause. <<Mentally, never better. Physically — I don't know. I'm tangled in a quantum field, which helps with my calculations and concentration, but — I'm afraid to look at myself. As I said, trying not to freak out; we have too much riding on finding the metrotitan.>>

"Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you." Silverbolt followed Stormrave's lead, with Braddore trailing behind, nervously wringing his hands as they passed through the corridors littered with Autobot bodies.

<<Thank you, Silverbolt. As soon as I crack the patterns to the quantum generator, I'll figure out how to get untangled.>>

 

*

 

_"You think they're going to fall for that performance, Screamer?"_

The fused Maximal did not reply right off, but twitched his fingers as though typing on a keypad. Finally, he broke the silence, but not as the spectre expected. "Sorry about that," Skyfire hissed. "Still getting used to the thought process here. I thought I was jumbled before. But to answer your question, it's not a performance, not with me. Would be if Starscream was in charge. Took advantage while he's occupied with Thrust. Good news is that he can't concentrate on too many things at once. Benefit to having a background in quantum physics. I constructed a logic loop that should keep him at bay for a while, buy us some time. And I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

_"So you're his good side?"_

"Not particularly. I'm the original occupant of this shell. We're two separate sparks, merged together. He thinks he assimilated me, but I don't think that's the right word for it. 'Tera and Primal know about what's going on with me; Rattrap, maybe Black Arachnia suspects. The others...the others know about why I'm a mess, but they seem to accept that I'm able to act independently, otherwise I'd be thrown to the Vehicons."

 _"No, you wouldn't have. I know Art. She couldn't get rid of him during the Legion Conflict — not that she didn't try, mind, but him without a shell was more dangerous, in her optics. Nor would she have risked you. Which is why you've gotten as far as you have."_

"A bit of a conundrum, really, because as much as I hate Starscream, we both have a strong survival instinct. I want to live, and I'll fight anyone tooth and nail to exist." A pause. "What about you? Seeing that we're kinda stuck together, might as well get to know you."

_"I'm nobody. Just an echo."_

"Don't listen to Starscream. His tampering with the ship is causing interesting reverberations. Calling sparks home, so to speak. But it wasn't him who brought you to the surface. The others, maybe, but not you."

_"What do you mean, 'the others'?"_

Skyfire smiled — a true smile. "The Allspark — the Oracle — it's been wide open for a while now. It's been fuelling Primal's abilities, the reformatting, everything. Megatron's been trying to shut it down, absorb the sparks. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason why the metrotitan's acting up — Megatron's been sapping power from everywhere and anywhere he can — "

_"Sorry, Skyfire...I'm having a hard time following."_

"It's okay — I'm used to losing people. I'll see if I can explain it better when I'm not concentrating on how to turn off the generator, let alone a way to get myself unstuck. Hm. If I turn off the generator. Wait: possibilities. The sparks. We got the generator, the Oracle, and the sparks. I think I'm beginning to understand...."

_"At least one of us is."_

"Give me time, friend," Skyfire pleaded. "I just need more time."

 

*  
Iacon Proper

 

"Hold up, 'Tera!" Rattrap halted in his tracks, rising to his haunches as to sniff the air. 

The jaguar continued for a few more metres for heeding his suggestion. "You have five clicks. What's up?"

"I think the girls are coming," he swivelled his head to regard her. "Silverbolt musta gotten impatient."

"Frag." Pantera flattened her ears. "Rattrap, I need to you meet up with them, then regroup with Optimus."

"I'm going to just ask the obvious question here — "

"There's so many levels of wrong with this situation, Rattrap. You said so yourself: we didn't survive the blast. But we did. Why do we feel like we didn't survive it? What are you experiencing right now?"

"A slag-load of deja vu?" He posed the observation as a question.

"How did we get off the ship?" Pantera demanded.

Rattrap held up a finger, opened his maw, closed it, and scratched his head. "That, kitty cat, is a very good question."

"Better you guys continue to find Metroplex," Pantera ordered. "I need to go alone on this one. The answers I'm searching for aren't meant for Optimus or Megatron."

"Hey! Now ain't the time for goin' all lone wolf on us!" Rattrap retorted. "You and I both know that we can't afford to go our own ways!" 

"So what do you suggest?" Pantera snapped, baring fang. "Any moment now Vehicons will be swarming the tunnels. You need to regroup the others and get to Metroplex."

"And what are you going to do? Get your Wrecker up to keep the 'Cons off our tail? 'Tera, you're a waste as bait!"

"You don't get it, do you? This isn't just Maximal versus Vehicon for our planet. This stretches beyond our scope. The _Lost Light_ and the space bridge, bleeding memories — "

"The fact the kid's really Starscream?" Rattrap interrupted. "I'm not an idiot, 'Tera, and I know why you played along. Hell, I'm not saying it was a bad call. But we're facing an extinction level event here, and it ain't the first time we've seen this happen, because I'm betting there's a faint recollection in your noggin that we've been down this road before. With him. With you and me. With Metroplex. Something happened that we were witness to, and you're thinking you're going to stop it from affecting us in this now. I got news for you: you ain't doin' it alone."

Pantera was silent for half a cycle. "We didn't survive the blast. We were altered by it. We're experiencing the other path."

"Ain't gonna pretend to understand the physics behind it, but right now? This is real. And we need to stay together. We get the girls and we join up with Optimus. And we hunt down Metroplex together so we can cut the engines and resume our regularly scheduled hell on Cybertron. And maybe take out the Vehicons once and for all."

"I can't believe I'm getting lectured by you."

He shrugged, paws out and palms up. "'Tera, ain't gonna lie to you: you got me scared. You were a team player up till we found the ship. And now you're pulling a Big Blue on us, and I think I speak for everyone when I say I don't need to remind you how that ended."

She gave him a hard glare. "You got the better nose," she ordered, "lead the way. Let's meet up with the girls."

Rattrap sighed, falling to all fours. "Sorry, 'Tera, but it had to be said."

"I know," she followed, keeping pace with him, head low and ears back.

After a pause, Rattrap cleared his throat. "You're taking that rib better than I expected."

"Something's wrong," she admitted. "I...I should have snapped at you for bringing that up. At least growled at you."

"Talk to me, 'Tera, you're not makin' sense."

"You mentioned deja vu. Yeah, I'm feeling that, but...it's reverse? Like...." She shook her head. "I can't think about that right now. We need to meet up with Primal. Gotta focus on the situation at hand."

Rattrap glanced over his shoulder, concerned. "It's bad when I have to say this, kitty cat, we need you at your level-headed Elderness right now."

"Well aware of it, Rattrap. I — I won't lie to you either: the fact I didn't react — I can't react — I'm unnerved by it. This goes beyond 'he made his choice, and I accepted it'. But I can't dwell on it if I am to keep level-headed."

"Think it's a side effect of the quantum wave?"

"Only remotely possible explanation. Let's table the discussion for later," she ordered, all while replaying Depth Charge's death in her head in attempts to dredge up any feeling.

_Empty...like a spent bullet casing...._

 

*

Unknown Planet  
Two Decacycles before Rendezvous with _Wreckers' Spoils_

 

<<Nav board's green!>> Hellfire transmitted. <<How's the engines?>>

"Holding," Depth Charge studied the engine output. "And steady. Comms?"

"Limited," Pantera announced, "line-of-sight pinbeam only, subspace comms are out."

"Better than nothing. Kid, you got a bearing yet where we are?"

<<If we can get topside to calibrate our charts, yeah. I've got radar operational, but it's rudimentary at best.>>

"Leave that to me," Depth Charge growled, taking the pilot's seat. It was going to be a tight fit for the three of them in a 'hopper meant for two standard-sized Maximals, and he pulled his seat as close to the console as possible without hindering his full movement. Hellfire was the only one with on-the-fly higher-mathematical navigational capabilities, which gave him claim to the auxiliary chair behind the manta Maximal. While the smallest of the three, Pantera was still large as Maximals went, and, once the comm systems were green, reverted to beast mode, settling at Depth Charge's side.

"Let's get this bird in the air," Depth Charge muttered, lighting the gravity thrusters. The 'hopper rose, unsteadily at first but levelling out. 

<<And we're off!>> Hellfire cheered. <<Okay, I'm reading air currents from a cavern, bearing two-seven-four, sixty-two degree incline. Can't tell the depth — how's the retro-thrusters?>>

"At a sixty-two degree incline?" Depth Charge scoffed. "If needed, I could float her down."

<<We don't have retro-thrusters, do we?>>

"Never said that," the blue and violet Maximal retorted.

"Let's keep positive," Pantera suggested, with an edge to her tone. "The sooner we get off this planet, the better. There's something not quite right about it and for once, I'm not at all curious to find out why."

Depth Charge grunted an affirmation before touching off the engines, manoeuvring the starhopper as per Hellfire's bearing. Pushing the throttle forward, he guided the ship through the tight cavern. The claustrophobia was short-lived, less than a quarter-kilometre, as the cavern expanded into a sinkhole in the centre of a roadway tunnel. 

Something had been down here prior: vehicles were shoved aside or rolled over, by something with large treads. Some of the vehicles even hinted at alt modes. <<Primus,>> Hellfire whistled, <<these were like us...they were cybernetic lifeforms.>>

"Not our problem," Depth Charge growled, punching the throttle and pulling up the yoke, guiding the 'hopper through a collapsed gape in the tunnel to the surface.

The city above was dead, apparent even in the light of planet's sunrise. <<Like Iacon,>> Hellfire observed, forlorn. <<'Tera, you think we're still on Cybertron?>>

Pantera rose to her haunches, careful to where to place her paws for balance. As she gazed out of the blast shield, she shook her head. "I don't recognise any of the buildings."

"Indigenous life varied in degrees of mechaform," Depth Charge admitted. "Can't tell you much more; I'm not a scientist."  
<<Did organic components have a natural state of decay?>>

"Stasis," Depth Charge shook his head. "Looked fresh."

<<Pinto, you'd have a field day here,>> Hellfire lamented. Shaking away his tangent thoughts, the red and gold Maximal returned to his board. <<All right, got a bearing: twelve-point-eight-two parsecs, seventeen degree arc. Two light years out, we have a Sirian sponsored jump-gate. We have enough fuel to make it there?>>

The former warden made a tight nod.

"Cite Galactic Council's Amnesty Codex, Article Eleven, subparagraph two, when we get there," Pantera ordered. "It's a mayday clause for Sirian affiliates. They'll allow us to jump straight to Sirius II orbit for aid."

"Granted if we're still considered affiliates," Depth Charge grumbled.

<<Telemetry I'm getting from the jump gate is give or take three hundred stels from ship's time, granted that didn't get bollixed in the "crash",>> Hellfire explained.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get there," Pantera settled back in the well, crossing her paws in front of her and resting her chin on them. "It's all we have right now to go by."

"Till then, we're on rations," Depth Charge ordered as they broke atmosphere, the bruised sky fading into space black, the cold stars greeting them.

 

NEXT CHAPTER: Dead to Rights

**Author's Note:**

> Hellfire mentions Pinto in the _Spoil's_ segment. Pinto was Skyfire's best friend in the _Gigastorm_ email role play back in 2001-2003ish; he belongs to tumblr user Smokedtoyst. I want to say he was a hippocampus or a pegasus alt form; Gigastorm was Beast Wars using mythical creatures as alt forms. Skyfire had started out as a cockatrice (the design was based off a chocobo with reptilian features).


End file.
